‘Wild Card’ Proposed Trade Sends Lakers 2 Future Stars

The Los Angeles Lakers keep losing games and this may force them to make a few moves in the offseason. Some would suggest that the Lakers should trade some of their superstars. Trading LeBron James won’t be that easy after all and why would they trade their leader? This opens the door for many opportunities and the Lakers can easily make a move and trade for a couple of future stars.

Chris Mannix and Howard Beck talked about this during an episode of “The Crossover” podcast. According to Mannix, the Denver Nuggets are the “wild card team” that could take part in the “game.” Are the Nuggets actually a good fit for LeBron? Will the Nuggets do an effort to get rid of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.

“LeBron and Jokic alone is a contender, throw anybody around them, especially shooters, you’re going to be in good shape,” Beck detailed. “…I did not do any trade machine stuff here folks, so do not hang me on, ‘the math doesn’t work stuff.’ I haven’t even looked into that. Plus, in the summer it’s going to be different numbers anyway.

“I would even do Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for LeBron, because LeBron and Jokic is enough. …They’re both injury risks. They’re both coming off of serious injuries, and if you’re the Lakers, you have to get enough back to be viable.”

Lakers to get two future stars

The Lakers have to make some changes and the Denver Nuggets could use a nice leader on their team. Of course, this is just a wild scenario and the Nuggets may not want to give up on two key players.

“The team that most interests me though is the Denver Nuggets,” Mannix said. “I remember when LeBron was a free agent back in 2018. The Nuggets, their officials were telling me like, ‘We want to make a run at it him. We just want a meeting with with [Klutch Sports CEO] Rich Paul, with LeBron. We don’t care what kind of contract he’s looking for [a] one-year deal, five-year deal. Whatever he wants to do, we want in on that.’

“…Could the Nuggets get the Lakers’ interest in a package centered around Michael Porter Jr.? Who all of the sudden, on his new contract, is going to make a heckuva a lot of money. So, he becomes somewhat tradable, not dollar for dollar with LeBron, but you don’t have to scrounge around looking for the salary cap to fit.

“Denver is and will continue to be a wild card team for LeBron James, because Tim Connelly, the general manager, believes in taking big swings. And the Nuggets with Nikola Jokic, with Jamal Murray, you add LeBron to that mix, are they the favorites in the West? Probably, you’ve got an MVP, an All-Star and whatever LeBron is at that point. Probably somewhere in between of those two things. That’s a team to watch if the Lakers get real interested in trading LeBron.”

The Lakers have to play smart this offseason. They may face some big obstacles in the offseason.